Ferrari drivers meet the press

Felipe Massa was the first Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver to face the
media today at Silverstone. It was certainly the first time that the lack of
air-conditioning made itself felt at the British circuit under the motorhome
awning. There had...

Felipe Massa was the first Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver to face the
media today at Silverstone. It was certainly the first time that the lack of
air-conditioning made itself felt at the British circuit under the motorhome
awning. There had been fears that holding this race a month earlier than
usual would result in a wet and damp weekend. Instead, the rest of the world
had to cut their jokes about the English weather as blue skies and
temperatures in the high twenties are the order of the day and due to last
all weekend.

The Scuderia has not tested here this year. "It's not a problem for me,"
said Massa. "We know that our car goes well at this type of circuit and
anyway, in the past I have driven a lot here and know the track well, so I
am not at all worried."

As usual, tyres are the most critical part of any team's package at a race
and here too, Felipe is confident. "I did one day's testing in Barcelona
last week, and I have to say that it seems Bridgestone made a genuine step
forward on the tyre performance side."

Quizzed about Monaco, where he ended up just outside the points in ninth
place, Massa preferred to look forward. "Monte Carlo was not a good weekend
for me after I made a mistake in qualifying, but the championship is still
open, there is still over half the season to go and from now on, we must do
well in every race. Our aim is simple, we must fight with and beat Renault.
Other teams are also strong, but in my opinion the two championships will be
fought between us and Renault."

Finally on to the most important topic for discussion, the football World
Cup. "I can't wait to see Brazil's first game," said Felipe with enthusiasm.
"We have a very good strong team and I we should be favourites to win the
Cup. As for Italy, I was at the game when they beat Germany by 4 to 1 and I
think they are organised and can also do well. But in something like the
World Cup anything can happen."

Michael Schumacher followed his team-mate's appearance at the Scuderia
Ferrari Marlboro motorhome encounter with the media this afternoon and he
was in confident mood about the coming weekend. "We had a great test in
Barcelona," he maintained. "So I am really looking forward to this race. We
found out what caused the difficulties we had when we raced there and found
solutions for those problems. Renault was also strong at the test, but there
is no reason why we cannot fight for the win here."

"In fact, we can fight for
the win at every race and we must try and get more than just a two point
advantage over our rivals. It will happen at some stage this year. We are
also looking good on the tyre front, as I feel that Bridgestone has made a
good step forward. The fact we have not tested here this year? It does not
matter and although it is much hotter than usual here at the moment, we have
taken that into account in our preparations."

The Grand Prix Drivers Association is due to have one of its regular
meetings tomorrow (Friday) and the F1 rumour mill has suggested that
Michael's qualifying incident in Monaco will be up for discussion. There
were even strange suggestions that "Michael must apologise."

"Some people
might see this as an opportunity to create something and do things," said
Michael diplomatically. "As for apologising, I have already told everyone on
Sunday in Monaco that I apologise for the mess the incident caused and I
apologised if I had spoilt anyone's lap. Talking about it now changes
nothing and I prefer to look forward to this weekend."

And inevitably, onto the World Cup: "Of course I will be keeping my fingers
crossed for Germany," said Michael. "We have a strong team and it is special
to have the championships held in one's own country. I am looking forward to
watching the opening game tomorrow."